Just a Trick of Light
by LadyGadfly
Summary: Diaval isn't sure what is more difficult to understand: human customs or his fae mistress. Written for Maleval Week Day 1: Cuddling (& Dancing).


Diaval cannot for the life of him figure out why humans have to overcomplicate things.

When his little hatchling had her coronation as queen of the moors the news had been spread by word of mouth. All the creatures of the moors that had wanted to attend had gathered at the standing stones the next day, and Maleficent had placed a pretty golden coronet on her pretty golden hair. Done. Finished.

But humans. Oh for the love of the skies _humans_.

They couldn't so much as _think_ about how to decorate the great hall without having three committee meetings, four votes and at least one huge row. There was the ceremony to rehearse, the guestlist to write up, the invitations to send out, the festivities after the ceremony to arrange.

Out of love for his dear Aurora Diaval attended as many of the excruciating meetings as he could stand. He eventually bowed out of a gathering among the royal seamstresses over what colour Aurora's coronation gown would be. For some reason Aurora had insisted that her aunties be included in the conversation. Naturally the damned pixies had reduced the proceedings to an absolute shambles. He fled the queen-to-be's chambers with cries of "Pink!" "Blue!" still ringing in his ears.

But, finally, the day arrived and Aurora was queen of the human realm as well. Diaval looked on with pride as Aurora sat on the throne in her shimmering white samite gown (Maleficent had eventually snapped and threatened all three pixies with severe bodily harm if they didn't shut up). Maleficent stood beside her, holding the moorland crown in her hand. An official brought forward the crown of the human realm, a simple golden circlet, and held it towards her. With a swirl of magic the vines of the moorland crown entwined about the circlet, symbolically joining the realms for all to see. The idea to do so had been Diaval's only useful contribution to the proceedings. He was quite pleased with himself.

As the official placed the crown upon Aurora's head Maleficent's eyes caught Diaval's. "_Finally_" he mouthed at her, grinning. She smiled back at him so widely he almost forgot to breathe.

An odd look flashed over her face then. It was gone so quickly Diaval nearly missed it. But then Maleficent was looking back to Aurora and the crowd was cheering. He pushed it from his mind.

There was a formal dance after the ceremony. Aurora waltzed happily with Prince Philip, who kept whispering in her ear and making her giggle. Diaval frowned. He was going to have -

"I'm going to have words with that boy." Maleficent had appeared at his elbow with a scowl on her beautiful face.

"My thoughts exactly mistress." He discreetly looked her over for the hundredth time that day as she glared daggers at the unsuspecting prince. She was stunning. Her long hair was braided in coils around her horns, accented with a few amber beads. A dark green silky gown clung to her torso and arms, billowing out in a swirl of fabric around her hips. The gown was cut low in the back, revealing the place where her wings connected to her body and a distracting amount of lovely pale skin. Diaval was having trouble breathing again.

"Dance?" Diaval blurted out. He winced. Oh pinfeathers, that hadn't been even a little bit suave.

"What?!" Maleficent snapped her gaze back to him. There was a look of such comical horror on her face Diaval would have laughed had it not been aimed at him.

"Would you like to dance?" He gave his best charming smile, trying to salvage the situation.

"With you?" She looked doubtful.

"Y-yes?" The charming smile was slipping a bit.

"Do you even know how?" Diaval paused.

"Well, no. But I can't be worse than Prince Philip." Maleficent raised an eyebrow.

"Prince Philip happens to be a very good dancer." Diaval looked over at the dancefloor where his hatchling and Philip were still swaying to the music.

"Really? He looks pretty stiff to me. Actually they all look a bit stiff. Nothing like the dancing I've seen before."

"And what dancing was that?" Maleficent tilted her head curiously.

"Well, every harvest in the village -"

"That's peasant dancing Diaval." She cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"It looked like a lot more fun. It was much faster and there was a lot of spinning and twirling and weaving around each other."

"You don't dance like that at royal functions."

"Why not?" Maleficent was silent for a long moment, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to find the right words.

"You know, I haven't the faintest idea." She looked sideways at Diaval with a wry smile.

"Why do you even want to dance?" She turned to face him fully. Her smile reached her eyes and Diaval willed himself not to say anything stupid.

"I just thought it would be fun to dance with you mistress." He literally bit his tongue to prevent any more confessions spilling from his mouth. _'You look beautiful. I want to be close to you. I want to hold you. I want every man here to see me dancing with you and stop staring at you.'_

Maleficent's smile faded and that look flashed over her face again. Up close he could see it looked oddly like fear. Her mouth moved silently once more, trying and failing to find the right thing to say to him.

"I-I think...perhaps...excuse me." She turned and walked quickly in the opposite direction.

"Just 'no' would have been fine. Really." He muttered to himself.

Diaval wandered the hall by himself for a while, trying to keep himself amused. A few bolder women tried to make conversation with him and hint that they would like to dance. He politely excused himself. He had no desire to dance with anyone other than his mistress. At least Aurora seemed to be having a good time.

Boredom and claustrophobia eventually won out and Diaval escaped the confines of the stone hall to make his way to the palace gardens. He frowned as he wandered into the hedge maze within it's centre, his thoughts swirling around his mind.

It was unfair, really. He had never meant for this to happen. For years he had seen the calculating, cold protector of the moors. Bitter and remote, never letting anyone near her. But then Aurora had come along and with smiles and laughter had pushed away the shadows within his mistresses soul, revealing the woman she had once been. Strong, loving, kind, playful.

By the time he realised he was falling for her it had been entirely too late.

But for all Aurora had healed her it seemed unlikely Maleficent would ever let another man into her heart. Diaval forced himself to be content with the fact that she needed him as her wings, her loyal companion. He had vowed to be whatever she needed, and if all she ever needed was a servant, that is what he would be.

Except, of course, she didn't need him any longer, did she? She had her wings, Stefan was dead, Aurora was securely on the throne of both kingdoms. She didn't need him at all. Panic rose in his gut. What if she told him to leave?

"Diaval." He nearly jumped out of his skin. Without noticing it he had wandered to the centre of the maze. Maleficent sat on a stone bench, her face in shadow.

"Mistress." He gave the clumsiest bow of his life. He hadn't even intended to find her.

"I'm glad you're here. I need to talk to you." Her voice was carefully monotone. "You have been a very loyal servant to me over the years," Her speech gave the impression of having been rehearsed many times over. "and I am sure you have longed for your freedom."

Diaval felt light-headed. It was happening. It was actually happening. His fears were coming true.

"Mistress..." He croaked out.

"I release you from my service Diaval." Had Diaval been paying attention to anything other than the blood thundering in his ears he would have heard the slight break in Maleficent's voice. "You are free to go."

Diaval walked towards her as if in a dream. He fell to his knees in front of her.

"You want me to leave? Just like that?"

"I thought you would want to be free of me." Maleficent whispered. Diaval laughed bitterly.

"Free? Free to do what? I'm an outsider, no unkindness will accept me. My family will be dead by now. I can't go anywhere else." There was a long terrible pause.

"I am sorry, Diaval." Now he really did hear the break in her voice. He grasped her hands. Her head was bowed and still in shadow but he felt water splash his wrist. She was crying. "I am so sorry."

"Why?" Her head raised then, and the look on her face nearly broke Diaval's heart.

"I am sorry. I have done you evil and I cannot undo it. I have taken so much from you and shackled you to me."

"Wha-no! I..." Diaval cursed under his breath. "I didn't mean it like that. I chose to pledge my service to you. I knew what that entailed. I knew my life would not be the same. I do not regret that. I never will."

"I took your life away from you."

"And gave me another life in return." Diaval took a deep breath. If there was ever a time to be brave, this was it. "The life I have with you and Aurora, I wouldn't change that for anything in the world. It's not what I expected my life to be, but that's not a bad thing. Please don't send me away."

Maleficent regarded him for a long moment, and when she spoke her voice was hollow. "I don't need your services any more." Diaval bowed his head. He slowly released her hands. "But, if you wish to stay in the moors, I cannot stop you." Diaval nodded slowly and stood. He felt empty. He turned to go. "Diaval."

"Yes?" Maleficent took a deep breath. Her voice was weaker than he had ever heard it.

"I...would...like it...if you stayed with...that is...close by... to me. I have grown...accustomed to your presence." Diaval had rarely seen his mistress anything less than poised. Now she was stumbling over her words, refusing to meet his eyes and ...was she _blushing_? "It would pain me if you left." She muttered.

A tiny spark of hope kindled in Diaval's chest. "I've grown rather accustomed to your presence as well, Maleficent." She blinked in surprise.

"You've never called me by my name before."

"I'm not your servant any more. You can't make me call you 'mistress' any longer." Finally, she smiled.

"I can already tell this new development is going to make you even more insufferable, you silly bird."

"Just admit it _Maleficent_," He plonked down on the bench beside her, grinning. "You can't stand to be without my beautiful self."

"I'll admit it when hell freezes over."

"So you're not denying it then?" Maleficent flushed and clipped him around the head with her wing.

An explosion over head had them both looking up as fireworks lit up the sky. Diaval watched them for a moment, then looked out of the corner of his eye at the Faery.

Colours flashed across her face, illuminating her wild eyes and throwing her features into stark relief.

He wasn't entirely sure where they stood now. It was a long way off ideal, that was for certain. But he thought, oh so carefully nurturing that spark of hope, that it may be a start.

Maleficent stretched her wings and, not taking her eyes from the display, curled one around him. He found her hand resting on the bench and placed his over it.

Yes, he thought. It was definitely a start.

* * *

_Author's note: So here's my first entry for Maleval week. It includes nearly-dancing and not-quite-hugging. XD_

_I am very very out of practice when it comes to writing. Constructive criticism is always welcome. _

_I listened to 'Salvation' by Gabrielle Aplin on repeat whilst writing this. For some reason that song always reminds me of this pairing._


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